The Global Agripreneurs Summit highlights the agrifood tech sector with the aim to bring an entrepreneurial mindset to reignite agriculture as a key pillar for global economic growth and long-term sustainability.

The summit creates networking opportunities between farmers, agripreneurs, investors, the private sector, government and other stakeholders from around the world to build awareness of the industry potential, introduce game changing innovations, and attract the necessary talent that will revive the 40% of the workforce employed by agriculture, as well as, gain increased attention from the youth to see agriculture as a food basket opportunity.

In short, the FAC mobilises local communities all over the world to discover innovative and fundable ventures in food, agritech and agriculture, addressing national, regional and global challenges.

Selected ‘agripreneurs’ will gain access to world class mentors, investors, potential clients, and new market opportunities.

FAC Global Championships is the highlight event within the Summit where the winning agripreneur from around the world competes at an international level to be entitled the Agripreneur of the Year to receive dedicated resources to help them grow their business and expand into new markets.

The leading global competition is focused on discovering and accelerating innovative and fundable ventures addressing the entire food value chain from farm to fork.

The competition is currently running in over 60 countries across 5 continents, including Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, Sudan, Morocco, and Algeria.

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Tue, 26 Sep 2017 12:30:26 EEST“Lebanon is a great place to test ideas and launch startups. This relatively small market is better than others when it comes to the low costs of launching a startup, acquiring seed funding, and communicating with corporates.”

With these words, Samy El Khoury, founder of Vision in Motion, described the Lebanese ecosystem that helped him reach Silicon Valley and get seed funding.

His company Vision in Motion, that offers a customer analysis program which helps stores increase their sales, won the first place at Seedstars Beirut event held on Friday (September 22), at the coworking space Antwork.

Samy El Khoury from Vision in Motion, along with other winners and Seedstars World representatives.

Vision in Motion will represent Lebanon at the Seedstars Summit in Switzerland next year, where the winning startup will gets $1 million equally distributed between cash prizes and equity funding.

The other startups that participated in the competition in Lebanon will receive $500 in services from Google, Amazon and other Seedstars partner, in addition to a $ 3,000 coupon from Aramex.

New space in Beirut

At the same event, Kamran Samadli, MENA associate at Seedstars, told wamda that “Seedstars is working on launching a new Seedspace in Beirut, a space for entrepreneurs to live, work and cooperate in one place.”

While he did not specify a launching date for this space, he explained that one of its features would be allowing Beirut entrepreneurs to move to other Seedspace locations in Switzerland for example, live and work there, free of charge.

Lebanon as a testing arena

Most Lebanese entrepreneurs at Seedstars found that the Lebanese ecosystem is a great sandbox.

Angela Solomon, CEO of Jaleesa, a platform that connects parents with babysitters, which won the second place at Seedstars, said: “working on proving your concept in Lebanon allows easier access to seed funding than in other countries. It also allows you to reach out to mentors and get the support.”

Mohamad El Hoss, founder of CloudSale, a B2B marketplace, experienced this by hand.

El Hoss used to work in the UAE, before quitting his job and starting his own company. However, high costs in the UAE brought him back to Lebanon to launch his company. “We spent around $30,000 till now, mostly on development, but this would have been twice or three times as much in Dubai,” he said.

El Hoss realized that his company needs to develop its network with both customers and corporations, and doesn’t just require funding. “There are plenty of sources for funding. Next to my personal savings, we received $5,000 from Kafalat [for SME loans], and we can ask for an additional $10,000 after we show some positive workflow results,” he added.

They start in Lebanon but their ambitions are much bigger.

However, others do not seem to the see the country as as an ideal sandbox for all startups.

Ziad Feghali, founder of Living Book, a platform that allows users to create interactive children’s books, which won third place at the event, stated that he wants to move to the US which he considers his primary market.

He explained that the “US is considered an important market for books, and that Americans are interested in reading and encourage their kids on doing so more than parents in our region. They are also tech-savvy and have an increased interest in ebooks”.

When asked why did he start his company in Lebanon, he said that in the business world, it doesn’t matter where you start, what matters is where you are headed.

The other side

The availability of funds does not mean that all is well in the country. Various infrastructure development, including communication, electricity, transportation, regulations in the digital field and others, must be addressed. The country also faces occasional political instability which affects different economic sectors.

Hassan Bayloun, CTO at Jaleesa, said regulations affect their work as a digital platform, highlighting the importance of drafting laws that adapt to this growing field. As an example, he explained that e-signatures are not recognized in Lebanon, despite being internationally adopted. “This affects our work and forces us to meet with the client face to face to sign deals that can be done online in other countries,” he said.

Meghan Warner from Seedstars, who was on the judging panel, said that many Lebanese startups with interesting ideas want to scale out. “This is not a bad thing. It shows a positive image about the Lebanese ecosystem that should be open to international investors and mentors, and invite them to participate in local events to meet startups here,” she added.

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Mon, 25 Sep 2017 14:45:47 EESTMany people hope to change the world but very few actually do.

Rola Hallam is a British-Syrian doctor. She studied Medicine in 1997 at the University of London. In 2012, she became the medical director of Hand in Hand for Syria, a non-governmental organization in the UK that provides healthcare assistance to areas in conflict.

What Hallam realized being involved on the ground helping refugees is that people who donate money to others in need often aren’t able to track where is their money going to.

“Many people want to contribute and want to know where their money is going to and how much is arriving. They want to feel connected to [whom] they're donating to,” Hallam told Wamda. “Current NGOs don’t do it all. They haven’t caught up with tech and global connectivity. There’s a need to be open and transparent.”

Rola Hallam sharing her story during the Women in the World Summit in 2017. (Image via CanDo)

In 2016, Hallam launched CanDo, a crowdfunding platform for charity causes. The platform helps donors support a cause they are fond of enables them to know exactly where their money is going. While it is still in its beta version, the platform hosted four campaigns so far.

The People’s Convoy was a crowdfunding project launched by CanDo, Doctors Under Fire, The Phoenix Foundation and the Syria Campaign. Its goal was to help rebuild the Hope hospital for children in Syria.

The campaign had 4,800 supporters. The money raised will help the Independent Doctors Associationrebuild the facility.

Their other campaigns had over 290 supporters and were spread around 15 countries, Hallam said.

When a campaign succeeds in raising the targeted amount, the money gets directly transferred to the local partner through a bank, then the partner gives it to the charity or the organization in need.

While CanDo is specifically dedicated to one country, there are other humanitarian crowdfunding platforms that are doing good in other parts of the world. Smile To The Future was launched in 2013 and is based in the Netherlands and Belgium. It features projects in Africa and Asia; Start Some Good covers different types of causes including crises, environment, health , youth rights and others. And these are just a few.

The pre-opening day of Hope hospital in April 2017. (Image via CanDo)

How she did it

The fact that she was not alone, and that she was involved on the ground, were two among various other factors that helped Hallam build her humanitarian crowdfunding platform.

Working through others: Hallam admitted none of what she achieved would have worked if she wasn’t heavily involved on the ground, since the beginning of the Syrian crisis. “I know the organizations [and] the context. That experience contributes and helps at the partner and campaign level.”

Through CanDo’s local humanitarian partners, which include Independent Doctors Association, Insan, and Hurras among others, she was able to conduct a proper due diligence on the charities and organizations that want to raise money through CanDo.

The local partners were also in charge of assessing the campaigns, setting the criteria required to run them on the platform and approving them. “We assess partners, then partners run a campaign. Sort of like an equity platform. Not anyone can launch a campaign,” she explained. “We mention the criteria we use before we accept partners,” she added.

Identifying the potential audience: Another factor that contributed to the success of her platform was following a human-centered design approach, as she described it, to discover who are the customers she might potentially cater to. “Do customers discovery and interviews so you can design your solutions jointly with those you want to benefit.”

Doing more of what works, and less of what doesn’t. The entrepreneur noticed that in the first couple of weeks, the website was having a huge dropoff on the landing page. When they reached out to their beta testers, they noticed that people had to scroll down a lot to understand what the campaign is about. “Since then, we changed the configuration of the campaign and made it better designed and easier to comprehend. Be agile otherwise you are at risk of staying at a losing track.”

Learning from others’ mistakes.Hallam told Wamda that people in the humanitarian field are willing to open up and share their mistakes, as they are working for a common goal.

“People in war zones areas are doing amazing things but you don’t know about their work, so this is an opportunity to do so, get to know them, and support them.”

CanDo is currently looking for more strategic partners to help them spread the word. The team will continue to focus on Syria until 2020, then expand their support to refugee-hosting countries and other countries in conflict. One of their main challenges remain training people on the technical side of launching a campaign and preparing and uploading a video.

“This is why many NGOs shy away from capacity building because it’s hard work, but it’s integral for future growth and peace. But it’s definitely a challenge.”

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Mon, 18 Sep 2017 14:23:49 EESTThe Five One Labs incubator is a three-month long program to take your startup business from idea to launch.

From October 22 till February 1, the program lets entrepreneurs understand their customer base, define their value proposition, build out their business and financial models, as well as building an MVP.

The overarching goal of the incubator is for startups to get their first customers or investors by the end of the program.

Five One Labs entrepreneurs are enrolled and welcomed into a community of likeminded entrepreneurs. They will go through intensive business and entrepreneurship training; will be linked with mentors in the US and Middle East; and will be provided with business support – including legal, marketing and other support.

At the end of the three-month program, participants will have the opportunity to compete for seed funding for their business; at least three startups will be guaranteed funding.

Eligibility criteria:

-Full-time commitment for the entire duration of the program (Oct.-Feb.)

-Daily attendance at the co-working space.

-If you are enrolled in school or university that has courses during the week, or if you have a full-time job, you are not eligible to apply for the incubator.

-Proficiency in written and spoken English, as the program will be held in that language.

For more information about the program, please read the complete description and instructions here. If you have further questions after reading the blog, please email applications@fiveonelabs.org.

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Mon, 25 Sep 2017 18:33:04 EESTFinTech Abu Dhabiwill be taking place on October 22-23 in Abu Dhabi, in order to enable startups to access industry-leading solutions that may help entities address emerging business challenges in the financial services industry.

The event will bring together global and local financial institutions, fintech startups, investors, regulatory agencies and the business community to network, collaborate and exchange expertise in fintech developments.

The event will include an Innovation Challenge, Demo Day, and Fintech Awards presentation, Regulatory Roundtable, Workshops, a welcoming reception, as well as a summit featuring distinguished regional and international leaders in the field of fintech.

The keynote speakers of this event are Saeed Amidi (founder & CEO of Plug and Play), Fadi Ghandour (Executive Chairman at Wamda Capital), and Sopnendu Mohanty (CFO at MAS).

The first day of the event will mainly focus on the Innovation Challenge demos and workshops, whereas the second day will be dealing with the panels and keynotes that are planned for the day. You can find the detailed agenda of the event here.

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Mon, 25 Sep 2017 17:57:43 EESTThis article does not cover any of the technical aspects of the blockchain or cryptocurrencies. The objective of this introductory article is to introduce the basic concepts of the blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and tokens as well as touch on why we’re on the cusp of something big. It is the first of a series of articles that are an amalgamation of concepts and ideas of various industry pioneers; I try to give a comprehensive beginner’s reading list at the end.

How and why

For the majority of people, the concept of a blockchain remains enigmatic. That is OK, because as much as SMTP, HTTP, or TCP/IP are a mystery to everyday users, they interact with each other using those protocols on a regular basis by sending emails, browsing the web, or exchanging any sort of data over the internet. The advent of the blockchain is no less revolutionary than those legacy computer protocols.

The rapid development of the blockchain today is akin to the early days of the internet in the 80s and 90s in a foundational sense. The foundation blocks of tomorrow’s digital infrastructure are being built today on blockchains. To many, the blockchain is fulfilling the original promise of the internet, a peer to peer distributed network controlled by no one and available to anyone. A public good, that any person may utilize equally and fairly.

Today, personal data on the internet is mostly controlled by a small handful of internet companies, such as Facebook, Twitter, or Google. Internet service providers are throttling bandwidth to select sites, and governments are outright blocking access to information they believe harms them. Furthermore, banks and payment networks control financial information and central banks indirectly control the value of money. The internet brought us closer to freedom, security, and control over our own lives, but the networks and systems that connect us remain centralized. Personal data is still stored by entities who one would only hope they look out for our best interests.

Bitcoin transactions settle in an hour or less.(Image via Pixabay)

Cypherpunks are obsessed over the dangers of an internet where data is centrally controlled by corporations and governments. It is a almost a four-decade old movement that calls for a world where user data is cryptographically protected to maximize privacy and control. The biggest breakthrough came when Satoshi Nakamoto, an unknown individual or group of individuals who founded bitcoin and released the bitcoin whitepaper, built the framework for a decentralized, distributed, and immutable public database that no individual or entity controls, and required no third party’s trust over user data. That idea was termed ‘distributed blockchain’. The first mainstream use of that blockchain is Bitcoin, a digital ‘cryptocurrency’ that is deflationary in nature and is not controlled by any central bank or government by design.

Currencies, smart contracts, and Dapps

Cryptocurrencies come with the promise of trust-lessness, security, anonymity, and utility with low transaction fees that fiat currencies and banks cannot offer today. It takes three or more days for a wire transfer to clear, while Bitcoin transactions settle in an hour or less. Fees charged for cross border remittances by traditional institutions like Western Union average about 10 percent of a transaction’s value, while Bitcoin transactions cost less than one percent. There is also a finite number of bitcoins that will ever exist, capped at 21 million, which makes it a deflationary currency and allows for price to be determined entirely by supply and demand, while central banks are able to manipulate prices of fiat currencies by printing more money. Cryptocurrencies are trustless in that no central entity controls them. Users do not need to trust a third party to conduct transactions or exchange data. Instead, thousands of distributed nodes operate to maintain the integrity of a cryptocurrency public ledger, or blockchain, making it virtually impossible to alter previously verified transactions.

A blockchain is a chain of discrete blocks, each containing data about transactions between users. New transactions are contained in new blocks. They’re added to the chain in a process known as mining. The data is secured using cryptography, and the encryption mechanism is built in a way to ensure that any slight tampering in data will significantly affect the integrity of that data. The chain is simultaneously run on multiple independent nodes so that if some of the nodes are compromised, it will not affect any of the other nodes. Blockchains are effectively ultra-secure databases, and in cryptocurrencies, that database is the ledger of all transactions that ever took place using that currency.

Cryptocurrencies have no intrinsic value, just as there is no intrinsic value to a US dollar since the abolition of the gold standard. Bitcoin is a medium of exchange which value is determined by the market. The surge in the price of the Bitcoin indicates its demand. The more the users deal in Bitcoin, the more valuable and redeemable against other goods or services it will be. It benefits from network effects, like any other currency. There is no value to a USD if you are the only person on the planet using it. Today, Bitcoin is the standard digital settlement currency, but other cryptocurrencies do exist like LiteCoin, Dash, and Monero, among others, each with their own unique characteristics.

As society moved from a barter-based economy to a unified currency for all transactions, there was a decoupling of value from utility. The medium of exchange is also the utility in a barter transaction. I may exchange three chickens in return for five pounds of salt. The salt is both the currency as well as the utility in this case. I am willing to accept salt as a form of payment for my chickens because I want to use the salt myself. Currencies, on the other hand, are just mediums of exchange. They are only valuable if they can be converted into other services or products. Barter economies are inefficient because it was difficult to standardize value of certain goods. It was also impractical because not only did it require a party to be willing to give up a product, but they must be willing to give up the product in exchange for another particular product. That must be matched with another party who is willing to take up the first offer’s party, and within a specific timeframe. Currencies allowed for seamless exchange, using a standardized value, that are redeemable at any point in time. That decoupling of value from utility was the primary driver of global trade.

Cryptocurrencies are virtual and the internet operates around the clock, which means the impracticality of holding multiple physical currencies is diminished. You are now able to hold various currencies, each with their own set of use cases. Some will be more appealing for small value instantaneous transactions, others will work better for larger amounts that requires anonymity and security. Furthermore, a currency can now also contain a set of rules that allow for exchange to only occur in case these rules are met. That is known as a smart contract. A smart contract is simply a contract between two or more parties that will be executed if and only if certain conditions are met. These conditions can be programed into the token itself and is often open-sourced, to allow users to view and audit the integrity of the code.

Cryptocurrencies have no intrinsic value,
just as there is no intrinsic value to a US dollar. (Image via Pixabay)

Smart contracts could eliminate the need for trusted middlemen by ensuring that a transaction between parties is only executed if and only if certain criteria are met. For example, a contract could be programed so that a property’s title deed is transferred to the buyer if the seller receives the full payment, thereby eliminating the need for an escrow agent. Another contract could be programed so that there is absolute transparency in the usage of funds, ensuring that a taxpayer dollar is not utilized in a corrupt manner. Those conditions can be programed into the cryptocurrency itself. The implications of that are enormous, as contracts replace centralized middlemen as policing authorities. You can trust the contract because it is auditable and immutable.

A simple example of a smart contract is ‘multi-sig’. These transactions are only executed if multiple signatories sign off on it. Many smart contracts today contain an element of multi-sig, over and above other conditions to be met by parties, like time-based or deliverable-based release of funds.

Smart contract applications would have their own token with their own value, but not necessarily their own blockchain. Think of those blockchains as open, anyone can build tokens or coins that run on that blockchain as long as they fit that blockchain’s protocol. In return, transacting parties must pay fees in that blockchain’s default currency. Though Ethereum is the largest and most popular blockchain, others exist like EOS, Tezos, Qtum, and NEO, each with its own unique offering. A token can be built on the Ethereum blockchain with its own set of rules programed, its own name, and its own value, but transacting parties must pay fees in Ether, Ethereum’s ‘gas’, or default currency. The more the Ethereum blockchain is used, as a result of more applications built of the Ethereum blockchain, the higher the value of Ether. These types of protocols can be considered Decentralized Applications, or Dapps. Dapps are applications that allow users and providers of a service to connect directly without a middleman or compromise on trust. Dapps are usually open sourced projects, with public blockchains. The ecosystem is incentivized to maintain integrity and keep the blockchain up to date through transaction fees and mining rewards. Ethereum is a form of a Dapp, in that a community of developers maintain Ethereum’s code and submit proposals for upgrading the protocol, miners constantly mine blocks and are paid ‘gas’ for it, and any two parties can use Ethereum without the need for involving an organization or corporate entity to be an intermediary.

Utility versus security tokens

While cryptocurrencies are tokens or coins that derive their value from supply and demand, tokens in this industry are usually split into two forms. Utility tokens which are redeemable against a service or a good, and tokenized securities, such as tokens that represent ownership in an asset, like shares, fiat currencies, or commodities.

Tokenizing securities is valuable because it creates public and immutable records of ownership that cannot be manipulated or hacked, ensuring that owners of these securities are under no threat of loss. These tokens have the potential to disrupt the existing model of custodianship of assets. They can also help increase liquidity in assets by processing transactions instantaneously by programing rules and restrictions into these tokens that are today exercised manually, like KYC and AML checks, minimum net-worth authentication, or geographic restrictions. These restrictions can be programed into a token’s smart contract layer. A great project in this space is Jibrel Network, founded by Yazan Barghouthi, Victor Mezrin, and Talal Tabbaa. Jibrel aims to tokenize traditional financial assets on the Ethereum blockchain while keeping the assets in custody with banks. This can allow for increased liquidity, lower fees, and faster transfer of assets between parties.

When it comes to utility tokens, think of an airline loyalty points system. The points can go towards flights, upgrades, or purchases in retail outlets, or think of cellphone minutes that can be used against calls, data, or SMS messages with carriers.

Coin offerings or token sale events are essentially companies, teams, or foundations offering tokens for public purchase. Most coins offered for public purchase are utility tokens.

I will dive into tokens and token sales in more detail in another post, but for now, think of token sales as an ecosystem-building event. Tokens are expected to increase in value the more valuable stakeholders believe the ecosystem is, similar to equity but much broader in coverage. The lines start to blur between what is a utility token and what is a tokenized security when studying these ecosystems and token sales events, which are changing the very foundation of corporations and their relationship with stakeholders. In short, tokens have the potential to distribute value to different stakeholders in an ecosystem in a way that is not possible today.

Tether- Issues tokens that are supposedly tethered in value to fiat currencies

Monetizing the protocol layer

A smart contract is in a sense a form of a protocol in that it dictates what is and is not allowed to take place over a certain network. The difference between legacy protocols and today’s tokenized protocols is that the exchange of data using a protocol is now monetizable at scale. Fred Wilson from Union Square Ventures, wrote a great blog post about this here. In summary, while legacy internet protocols brought enormous value to users, it was only at the application layer that that value is being captured. Facebook, Google, and Twitter exist because the internet is ubiquitous, but the internet itself and the ecosystem around it do not directly benefit from the usage of these products. Most of the value is captured by Facebook the company, Google the company, and Twitter the company. This ability to allow monetization at the protocol layer is a massive change that can lead to a radically different approach entrepreneurs and programmers will take when building new technologies.

Fred further elaborates on the points he brings up in the above mentioned article in a more recent post he published titled ‘How to Value Crypto Assets’ in which he argues that it is erroneous to value a cryptocurrency in the same way a traditional company is valued because a lot of these cryptocurrencies are platforms in which the protocol layer is worth more than the sum of the applications built on top of them.

I will leave the discussion on the topic of valuing a cryptocurrency or token for another time, but in sum, it is erroneous to value a cryptocurrency or token, especially platforms, in the same way companies or products are valued today because these protocols and ecosystems are to applications what the internet is to tech companies, the foundation on top of which everything is built. How do you value the internet?

We are still at the infrastructure and protocol building phase. (Image via Pixabay)

Implications

The implications cryptocurrencies and utility tokens can have on traditional industries are massive. The more obvious ones are the financial industry and venture capitals, as cryptocurrencies begin disintermediating the banks and replacing fiat currencies and commodities as the standard exchange medium, while ICO and token sales disrupt the fundraising process startups currently undergo with VCs. On a deeper level, the trustless mechanism of smart contracts and Dapps has the potential to impact almost every industry and social order from supply chain management to voting and public governance. The impact on large internet companies will also be felt as decentralized marketplaces and social networks begin to acquire market share. It is easy to overstate the opportunity and understate the challenges ahead. Is it only a matter of time before smart contracts and digital assets replace legacy social contracts or is it a matter of if they will at all?

I have added suggested further reading material below. If you are just curious to learn more, consider investing in Bitcoin and Ethereum, or even try to venture out and purchase some alternative coins (you can use ShapeShift for that). BitOasis is the best place to buy Ethereum and Bitcoin if you are based in the GCC. Take a cryptography class online and learn more about cryptocurrencies at a more fundamental level.

We are still at the infrastructure and protocol building phase. Do not assume that consumer adoption is an indication of success or failure at this stage. The primary objective at this stage is to increase adoption, build infrastructure, and improve security and stability of blockchain technology.

In the next article, I will talk about how ecosystems built around Dapps and cryptocurrencies are nothing less than a paradigm shift in the way we think about building companies, products, or applications, and how value of networks and ecosystems can potentially be distributed to all stakeholders more fairly than traditional corporate models that exist today.

In a world where transparency, authenticity, and integrity of data are both achievable and tremendously valued, the blockchain brings with it the promise of a more efficient world with more equality.

Nine out of every 10 new startups will fail. While many entrepreneurs will acknowledge this fact, only few of them will acknowledge failure itself on a personal level.

The MENA region is no different from many of the more advanced ecosystems in the fact that people believe failure is the worst thing that they can do. According to Anthony Gerrard, Scottish social entrepreneur and expert in global entrepreneurial ecosystems, the problem stems from the educational systems around the world, that have bread the ‘fear of failure’ culture.

Having worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs across the region, Gerrard, who is also the founder and chief executive of Bad Idea, a training company that encourages creative ideas, shares below his insights on failure and how can entrepreneurs use it to their favor.

Nuwait: How do you define failure for an entrepreneur?

Gerrard: Giving up. That is the only way you can truly fail as an entrepreneur. You can make countless mistakes, but as long as you are always learning and adapting you will continue to move forward. It’s when you give up that you fail.

Nuwait: Businesses are measured by how much money they make. Do you agree with that?

Gerrard: It’s subjective. Just as beauty is said to be in the eye of the beholder, the same can be applied to success. If you ask the shareholders, then they will measure success by how much money is being made.

As a founder, I believe that businesses are measured by the value they create for customers. However, the more value you create, the more money you are likely to make. I also consider myself a social entrepreneur, so I also believe that a business should be measured by its impact on society or on the environment.

Nuwait: You trained a lot of entrepreneurs in the region. What do you think is the most common mistake they do?

Gerrard: The most common mistake I have observed in this region is people who think that being an entrepreneur is just having an idea and then getting the money to make it happen. The reality is, entrepreneurship is a journey, not a destination.

Nuwait: What do you think are the most common causes for failure for regional startups?

Gerrard: Many people are unprepared for the journey, and that is why they fail. Also, there is a significant lack of startups, which means there is a lack of entrepreneurial culture. If you are not surrounded by other entrepreneurs who are always learning, adapting and pivoting to survive or succeed, then it can be difficult to motivate yourself to keep going through the difficult times.

Nuwait: How can entrepreneurs respond constructively to failure?

Gerrard: Entrepreneurs need to start loving their mistakes more than their ideas. They have a habit of falling in love with their ideas and that makes it difficult for them to see the product or service from others’ point of view. Instead of starting with an idea that you are convinced it will succeed, start with the idea as a hypothesis that you want to test. This way, you give yourself permission for the original idea not to work, but find alternative ways for it to succeed.

Nuwait: What’s the most precious lesson you’ve learned from failure?

Gerrard: That no one has died! I know this seems a little melodramatic, but it is honestly the most precious lesson I have learned. Sometimes you can become so overwhelmed with the expectations that are placed on you by your team, investors, customers, friends, family, or even just yourself, that it can seem like the worst thing in the world is to fail. You build it up in your head so much that you actually lose sight of reality, and convince yourself that failure would be the most terrible thing imaginable. But in actual fact, no it's not. Something didn’t go as planned, but no one died! Learn and move on.

Nuwait: What are the best practices for sparking a constructive spirit within your employees after failure?

Gerrard: It is all about celebrating the mistakes for the learning you gain from them. There is a fantastic method for this called the ‘5 Whys’, designed in the 1950’s by Sakichi Toyoda and used by Toyota Motor Company. You can use this method in a team to explore the root cause of a problem, which helps you find a solution that enables you to start again. This turns the negative into a positive, and allows everyone to move forward with confidence.

Nuwait: How do people perceive failure in our region, versus in more advanced ecosystems?

Gerrard: It is no different. The only exception is Silicon Valley, where failure is celebrated. Apparently, it is now difficult to get investment there if you haven’t previously failed! I think that many lessons can be learned from this.

During the forum which attracted around 20,000 visitors on day one alone, Wamda gathered Saudi entrepreneurs on round tables to meet with mentors from different sectors.

Mix N’ Mentor focused on learning from other entrepreneurs and networking with mentors, discussing varied subjects from team building and marketing strategies to preparing for meetings with VCs.

“The speed at which the Saudi ecosystem is growing is encouraging. It helps boost the economy and the young generation. I am looking forward to meeting more Saudi entrepreneurs willing to develop their startups in the future,” said Nitin Reen, head of value creation at Wamda Capital.

Some of the participants in Wamda mentorship sessions. (Image via Wamda)

Meanwhile, the BIBAN Forum organized several panels on adopting smart strategies which allow SMEs to succeed and move forward, in addition to talks from local and global entrepreneurs, and government officials.

The forum witnessed the signature of various partnerships. These include the one between the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority and King Khalid University, which aims at supporting SMEs by providing open online courses and creating training courses in entrepreneurship. It also includes one between the Authority and the King Salman Center for Local Governance, which plans on encouraging taking initiatives and cooperating in research and consulting activities. The Authority also signed a partnership with the Riyadh Chamber to exchange information and cooperate in research studies and event organization.

Ghassan Al Sulaiman from Monsha’at (to the left) while signing the partnership with King Khalid University. (Image via BIBAN).

Ghassan Al-Sulaiman, Governor of the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises Majid Al-Qasabi, Minister of Trade; Ali Al-Ghafis, Minister of Labor; and Abdullah Al-Sawaha, Minister of Communication all took part in the governmental session. Al-Sulaiman explained that authorities are working on restructuring the Kafalah program (for funding SMEs) and launching full service centers and other SME support programs.

Al-Ghafis also announced that the Ministry of Labor will register freelancers and part time workers in social security.

In an interactive session with experts about the funding of SMEs in the Kingdom, Walid Faza, partner at Wamda Capital said that “there should be talks about more than funding in Saudi Arabia. Youth energy is an important resource in the Kingdom and we should help them in developing business ideas and preparing business strategies and models through mentorship.”

In the same session, Faris AlHumaid, founding chairman of Oqal Group, pointed out that governmental institutions in Saudi Arabia enhanced their support for SMEs. What is left is to work on the legislations and the terms to develop enterprises, such as stock options pools.

“Entrepreneurs must know that there are stages to fund startups. It starts with family and friends, then goes to incubators and accelerators, before reaching angel investors and VCs, and then listing in the Parallel Market for example,” AlHumaid added.

The event also included various workshops that trained attendees on subjects such as feasibility studies and business planning.

The BIBAN forum 2017 also included a social entrepreneurship challenge, an initiative of the SMEA aiming to raise awareness regarding social projects and their importance and create social entrepreneurs.

In the first stage, 15 out of 700 entrepreneurs pitched their ideas in front of the Jury constituted of Shahd Al-Shuhail, Ghada Arifi, Firas Al-Jarrah, Ahmad Al-Jabreen and Abdullah Al-Rashed.

They were also the first to launch, Intel Capital in 1991 and Google Ventures in 2009, followed by Salesforce Ventures and Comcast Ventures in 2014 and 2011 respectively.

More corporates are dipping their toes in venture capital, allocating big budgets to invest and support startups and manage mergers and acquisitions. According to the same report, CVCs participated in a total of $ 24.9 billion of funding across 1,352 deals in 2016. 107 new global CVCs made their first investments in the same year - a number that increased by 20 percent from 2015.

Some of the most active CVCs in the UK, India and China. (Image via CB Insights)

These important numbers bring us to the inevitable conclusion: Should startups opt for a CVC or a VC? Are CVCs competing with VCs? Where are the MENA’s big corporate funds?

What does what?

In order to make the distinction between both types, it is worth looking at their objectives first. Another study conducted by CB Insights revealed that CVCs and VCs complement each other and seek to invest in high-growth businesses. However the first one provides businesses with in-depth industry knowledge while the second helps them improve the structure of their companies and monetize.

“CVCs are more focused, depending on the company’s expertise,” said Mohammed Alhajeri, director of KISP Ventures, a $30 million fund established by KFH Capital and Impulse International in Kuwait to manage seed and Series A investments. Alhajeri will be talking about the real value of CVCs during a fireside chat at GITEX, on October 10. [Disclaimer: KFH is wholly-owned by Kuwait Finance House].

That said, CVCs tend to look for quicker profiles, according to Alhajeri.

Unlike the VC which is an independent entity, a CVC’s structure is much different. It is either internal, where the venture has a dedicated department within the corporation, or external. The first one is a bit bureaucratic and has a dependent decision-making process while the second is independent and only follows certain guidelines set by the board members, according to Alhajeri.

“In both cases, the corporate shouldn’t be directly managing the startups. They should allow startups to grow on their own till a potential acquisition,” said Kamal Hassan, general partner at Turn8 venture fund. “Most corporates, except few very large ones, have no infrastructure to properly manage innovation. They typically kill innovation due to their complex corporate governance. They should allow some disruption.”

Alhajeri on the other hand said that corporates that want to save cost go for an internal structure and set up an internal team to run ventures.

Where are the region’s CVCs?

A report conducted by Wamda Research Lab and Expo 2020 on the state of corporate-startup engagement in the MENA region, revealed interesting numbers on the role of regional companies in supporting startups.

Since 2011, 11 CVCs were created by regional corporations to boost startup investment and engagement, the report highlighted. Some of these funds include Hikma Ventures in Jordan, Arzan Capital in Kuwait, MBC Ventures in the UAE, and STC Ventures in Saudi Arabia among others.

According to the report, the startups that signed a partnership with a CVC, were in the market for over three years, and have serial entrepreneurs as part of their founding team.

While some CVCs have purely financial goals, as the report stated, others look to strategically invest and add value to the startup and the corporation as well.

A CVC may use the startups’ innovation as a competitive advantage, said Hassan. Startups can also help corporations reduce internal research and development (R&D) cost, bet on multiple innovations and look for disruptive technologies, he added.

Startups working with a CVC will be able to test their ideas properly and get access to the right tools, according to KPMG, a global firm for audit, tax, and advisory services.

Startups will also benefit from a wide network of potential clients.

“[Our network includes] Islamic banks from Turkey, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and we can help with banking-related things, integration, or introductions to clients,” explained Alhajeri on the startup advantages of working with a CVC. “We have a network that spreads from Silicon Valley to here. Funds in the East Coast, Europe, London and Germany.”

CVCs: an innovation tool?

Looking at global and regional CVCs, one notices that they are all attached to a big name like Google, Microsoft and Intel. A research by business school INSEAD explained the reason for this.

According to the research, ‘CVC has become a crucial tool for big firms under pressure to innovate faster. It gives them a window into new technologies and a way to access novel ideas. Companies like Apple and Intel have also used CVC to nurture whole ecosystems around their products, boosting demand’.

Alhajeri believes that CVCs are also much more experienced than regular VCs, due to their industry focus and years of experience. CVCs usually invest in startups that are active in the same business fields as theirs. Google Ventures and Qualcomm for example, would only invest in things that make sense to them, and in areas where they’re knowledgeable. Otherwise they can't add value.

“Most of them [VCs] are in the first series of their funds. Other funds are struggling to raise a second round,” he said.

So which one should entrepreneurs go with? The industry, Alhajeri said, not the fund itself. A startup in the real estate business should not approach a regular VC, he explained. But if a startup sells a software for restaurants, he continued, it shouldn’t consider them. “We won’t add value.”

Following this acquisition which stake and value remained undisclosed, Alshaya will become a seller on Noon’s marketplace platform, bringing online its diverse brands portfolio which includes fashion, health, and lifestyle among others.

Mohammed Alshaya, executive chairman of Alshaya, said: "Our partnership with Noon will allow us to expand our customer base, reach new market segments, and participate in the next level of growth in regional ecommerce."

Last March, Alshaya won the ‘Digital Excellence in Retail’ award at the CDO Conclave held in Dubai as part of a wider event aimed at helping organizations in the Middle East navigate their digital transformation. This hints to the future approach the operator will be adopting. Back then, Johnny Morris, director of CRM & Digital at M.H. Alshaya Co. said: "Consumers in this region are avid users of digital platforms”, and Alshaya's central digital team and brand-specific marketers have shaped a powerful digital strategy that we expect to evolve further in the coming years.”

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Thu, 21 Sep 2017 10:35:22 EESTThe world of entrepreneurship news is a complex one, with people ever ready to give their two cents on how you should be running your business, pitching your business and what’s trending.

Here’s a review of what we've read about Google’s new phone, Hong Kong supporting tech startups, entrepreneurship and hospitality, and the region’s multi-billion startup industry.

The second edition of Google Pixel is coming up: Following the last week’s stumbling launch of Apple’s iPhone 8, Google is getting ready to reveal to the global audience the second-generation of Pixel phones expected on October 4. The device will probably feature the same Snapdragon 835 chipset as every other high-end Android smartphone, in addition to a 4GB RAM as well as pressure sensitive sides, similar to what we HTC's flagship U11 smartphone came up with, in addition to water and dust resistance. As no face detection feature is reported, the phone might have better chances under the spotlights of the demo day.

Green lights for startups in Hong Kong: A great news for tech startups in Hong Kong, which will now have access to a $256 million Innovation and Technology Venture Fund (ITVF) backed by the government. This initiative aims at boosting the appeal of VCs to support local innovation and technology startups.The government and each VC fund will invest in local technology startups at an overall matching investment ratio of approximately one to two, according to Hong Kong's announcement from the Innovation and Technology Commission. Better than a cashew rice noodle?

More ladies, more cash: Though ladies have been less lucky in attracting VC funding, a study conducted by the Small Business Association in the US determined that venture firms that invested in women-led businesses had more positive performances than firms that did not. Also, female-led firms may have a higher rate of return on average than male-led firms. Reason enough to start pouring cash in ladies’ creativity?

When hospitality embraces entrepreneurship: Startups and investors are more interested in entrepreneurship and supporting the ecosystem. Some hotels have also started incorporating this mentality within their features. Just like they cater to business and leisure travelers, hotels are now more into including amenities that cater to entrepreneurs. Nest Coworking Space, is a shared workspace concept at Tryp by Wyndham, Dubai, which is set to open its doors this autumn. As a full-service coworking space, Nest will focus on creating and fostering a community around entrepreneurs, freelancers, and the creative classes working in key locations in Dubai, with a membership structure that offers access to a range of benefits.

The region that raised $3 billion in a year: The Middle East is developing on a fast pace into a global startups hub. The region not only has creative mindsets that are eager to alter the perception of a population of ‘followers’, but it also has a bunch of the wealthiest businesspeople on the planet, and that have already taken that startup innovation train. Last year, several key investments in that area have peaked a $3 billion capital injected in various regional startups. Many are calling this era ‘the wakeup’, but what’s next?

Wamda of the week: The Orenda Tribe: This Jordanian social enterprise is selling online and through shops quality products, mainly T-shirts, with prints of drawings of children living in refugee camps and less fortunate communities. It is giving back parts of its profits to encourage art classes in underprivileged communities.

This is how we do it: We’ve always been used to source inspiration, tips, and mentorship from foreign leaders and experts. But this is changing with entrepreneurs from the region, leaving their imprint all over the world, and standing out from the crowd. CEO and founder of Souq.com, Ronaldo Mouchawar, founder and board member of Glowork, Khalid Al Khudair, cofounders of Careem, Magnus Olsson and Mudassar Sheikha, CEO and chairman of W Motors, Ralph R Debbas, and founder and CEO of Nabbesh.com ,Loulou Khazen Baz, share with us some insights and tips about their entrepreneurial journey, with five key themes to follow: Vision, pioneer, innovation, growth acceleration, and strategic investments, are the golden keys.

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Tue, 19 Sep 2017 12:16:53 EESTCreate@ Alibaba Cloud is a global program focused on accelerating business success for startups. This year, the MEA regional "Create@" will be happening in Dubai.

Create@ Alibaba Cloud Startup Contest will happen in Dubai on September 28, 2017.

Alibaba Cloud has a long brought industry leaders together through the annual Global Startup Contest. The first round of these contests take place locally in each region and then the winners graduate to the global competition where they compete in the final international competition in Shanghai.

With that said, Alibaba Cloud MEA will be holding the startup contest in Dubai this year. The competition will happen on the September 28, and will be attended by a host of entrepreneurs, incubators and tech industry investors.

The competition specifics are as follows:

8-10 startups will be shortlisted (from the initial pool of entries) to compete in the local event.

The winner will receive USD 50,000 in Alibaba Cloud Credits.

Each of the other shortlisted teams will receive USD 10,000 in Alibaba Cloud Credits.

1 member from the winner team and 1 member from the runner up team will be invited to attend the Alibaba Cloud Computing Conference (scheduled from October 11-14), subsequently they will compete in the Global Finals in Shanghai.

It is a great opportunity for incubators and startups to bring forth their ideas and compete at the international Scale.

Founded by Zeid Husban last year, POSRocket’s point-of-sale system allows owners to monitor all operations in real-time including cash flow, inventories, and analytics from wherever they are and through any device.

The company now operates in Jordan and in Egypt, but in 2018, they are planning to “have physical presence in the KSA to support the Saudi and GCC markets”, Husban told Wamda.

With the new funding, the company will be also focusing on “hiring more technical people to help grow the product in a short period, and on investing in sales and marketing to expand our network,” according to Husban.

“This is just the beginning,” declared Husban, “as we are planning to expand aggressively in the region with the team we have.”

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Wed, 20 Sep 2017 14:36:45 EESTInnoventures, an innovation platform launched in 2011 to bring Egyptian ideas to market, announced the top 11 startups chosen to proceed to 'Plasma', the third stage in its Startup Reactor program, in partnership with Venture Capital for Africa (VC4A), CEDARE and JuiceLabs.

During 'Plasma', entrepreneurs will have access to the startup-support benefits provided by Innoventures, including office space, legal company registration, branding, mentoring, and in-depth sessions about how to build a company, in addition to seed funding for the more advanced startups.

These 11 companies were selected out of 39 startups that took part in the second stage, 'Ignition', an intensive six-week training workshop that took place last May.

The program has already started working with these startups since July 2017, to launch and grow their companies, and to prepare for seeking further investment.

The 11 chosen startups that operate in different industries are:

1. Tomatiki: A technology company that produces smart agriculture products which help maximizing crop production, reducing cost, and securing agriculture sector investments in Egypt and Africa on the short term, and globally on the long term.

2. Imaginators: An online platform that helps people showcase their work professionally and interactively by allowing users to create interactive presentations.

3. Hanorder: A food ordering mobile application that focuses on group ordering. It allows users to pick a restaurant, select their food, and place the order.

4. Bionic Limbs: A prosthetic limbs startup that aims at providing amputees with a wide variety of solutions that boosts their productivity.

5. Nezaker: An integrated platform for parents that helps them improve their children’s educational, psychological, cultural, physical, social, and moral performance during the different education stages through smart short videos extending between three to 10 mins.

6. Agrona: A startup that manufactures particleboard from agricultural residues using a new technology and manufacturing of other engineered wood and natural fiber composites.

7. Okhtub: An matchmaking platform and mobile app that provides life partner recommendations; so that only verified people could be connected. It also designed to be accepted by MENA culture.

8. Smart Safe Solutions: A startup that works on upgrading industrial production lines to improve the implemented lean manufacturing system using RFID.

9. Happiana: An adaptable charging solution to fulfill the different needs for different people.

10. E-kacia: A mobile app that helps collecting electronic waste materials to be recycled to produce high tech products.

11. TechnoRecycle: It offers e-waste recycling services starting with collecting from different sources, sorting, and supplying customers with mother boards, metal,s and other reusable materials.

Once 'Plasma' ends, the fourth stage, 'Nova', will take place in November. It consists of a grand demo day where startups will have the chance to pitch in front of investors to win cash prizes totaling 15,000 euros (US$ 18,000) provided by VC4A.

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Wed, 20 Sep 2017 11:43:33 EESTBetween 8 September and 4 October 2017, you can apply to She Entrepreneurs and take your social business initiative to a whole new level.

She Entrepreneurs is a recognised leadership program for young emerging women social entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) and Sweden.

This program allows women social entrepreneurs to develop their acquire a new set of personal skills and learn to leverage new tools in their businesses. Also, it builds their knowledge on various aspects of running a social enterprise, from branding to risk-taking for example.

Besides the skill building seminars and workshops, the program also offers a great opportunity for networking among like minded women who support each other in driving important changes in society.

Driven and have an ongoing business initiative aimed at positive social change through entrepreneurial principles. The business initiative should be based and implemented in one of the program countries.

Proficient command of both written and spoken English, as well as basic knowledge of the internet and new technologies.

The program, spreading over eight months, comprises of three weeks of intensive training divided into two modules (12-23 March 2018 and 17-22 September 2018) in Sweden. The program will be delivered in English. All costs related to program content, accomodation, food and transport are covered.

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Wed, 20 Sep 2017 11:35:30 EESTWe’ve all struggled with the tedious task of memorizing the functions of the brain and the heart to pass our science exams. Egyptian science lover Ahmad Sameer has also faced the same struggle, but now asks different questions from those we had to answer on those tests. “How do we read people’s minds?” or “Can love really kill”?

Such questions later became episode titles on Egycology, a YouTube channel that Sameer launched with his friend in the beginning of 2015 to make science closer to people’s everyday lives.

“There is a general misconception that science can only be learned through boring lectures or jargon-infested books,” explained Sameer in an interview with Wamda. He was referring to his ambition to replace this impression about science with a more positive one through producing edutainment 10-minute videos. Since they launched the channel, Sameer and his four partners have succeeded in attracting around 140,000 subscribers.

The significance of these initiatives lies in the region’s need for a project that can pull it from its very poor scientific performance. The region’s negligence in scientific accomplishments is apparent first in the TIMMS 2015’s results in which the nine participating Arab countries were ranked at the very bottom. It is also apparent in the region’s very low contribution to R&D, which reaches as low as 2.3 percent for 2015, a percentage uncomparable to other regions specifically Asia of which the contribution reaches 41 percent.

Science in Arabic?

The English language predominates scientific research worldwide. This affects the delivery of scientific content in Arabic-speaking countries where English literacy is the worst in comparison to other regions.

“We cannot expect all Arabs to learn English just so that they can understand science, we must bring science to them in Arabic,”explained Sari Sabban the host of the scientific podcast Ilm FM during an interview with Wamda. “We should custom tailor education especially science to our culture rather than do the opposite,” he continued.

The English language predominates scientific research worldwide.
(Image via Stockvault).

Sabban believes that the availability of free or affordable web 2.0 platforms has encouraged people like him to start their own local initiatives especially after it became easier to program websites in Arabic. The low cost of doing podcasts is what mainly triggered Sabban and his partner to start the show. “Science by default has a low following and picks up slowly, having low cost platforms allows us to take larger risks, or survive longer until we build a fanbase,” Sabban said.

Essam Fawwaz, the CEO of I believe in Science website which publishes scientific articles, infographics and videos in Arabic, agrees on the importance of producing Arabic scientific content. Fawwaz confirms that “publishing in Arabic allows Arabs to follow up on scientific progress especially that they have been absent from the radar for so long, it also helps lessen the inequality between Arabic speakers and speakers of other languages”.

Regardless of the initiatives’ different methods: audio, text and video, most of them are similar in their nonprofit model, which is a threat to their sustainability on the long run. Sameer is worried about the sustainability of his channel and wonders how he can make profit while insisting on producing free content.

In conclusion, it looks that online scientific content in Arabic is seeing the light giving hope to the region’s sluggish scientific state. But with the absence of funding will scientific initiatives be able to sustain their content and audience? And will the region be able to bear better results in universal indicators?

Startup Weekends are 54-hour events designed to provide superior experiential education for technical and non-technical entrepreneurs.

Beginning with Friday night pitches and continuing through brainstorming, business plan development, and basic prototype creation, Startup Weekends culminate in Sunday night demos and presentations. Participants create working startups during the event and are able to collaborate with like-minded individuals outside of their daily networks. All teams hear talks by industry leaders and receive valuable feedback from local entrepreneurial. The weekend is centered around action, innovation, and education.

Startup Weekends create the perfect environment in which attendees test their idea and take the first steps towards launching their own startup.

Also, preparatory workshops revolving around AI and startups for beginners and experts alike will be held on September 23 and 24.

The summit will allow entrepreneurs to possibly acquire funding, connect with regional & global investors, gain publicity in widely viewed media publications, and extend to potential customers in the Mediterranean and MENA regions.

Participating tech startups should apply to at least one of the many pitching competitions available:

Seedstars Alexandria: The 10 best startups from Alexandria will be invited to pitch in front of an investment panel and compete to be crowned the most promising seed-stage startup of Seedstars Alexandria 2017. The winning startup will join the global Seedstars Family and take part in the regional and global Seedstars Summits that include our tried and tested bootcamp and investor forum.

Startup Scene Middle East & MO4 Network: MO4 Network and its entrepreneurial platform, Startup Scene ME, are selecting three media startups leveraging on VR, AI, and social media for innovative storytelling. Whether you’re in the idea stage or you’re a fully functioning startup, the MO4 Pitching stage will startups focused on content marketing, entertainment, or media the chance to pitch their ideas for a chance to be boosted by the Middle East’s most disruptive media group.

Aramex Pitch Competition: anyone with 10 minutes and a good eCommerce startup can get the chance to pitch. The best 10 startups get to pitch in front of an investment panel and compete. The winning startup will get an incubation program with Aramex and a trip to Dubai to visit Aramex facility and explore the startup ecosystem in Dubai.”

Exhibit in CES: Are You ready to be among the top 3,800 startups worldwide? Exhibit your technology to more than 170,000 visitors from more than 150 Countries? Apply now for a chance to win a trip to Las Vegas and exhibit in CES

Deadline for applying to those competitions is on Wednesday September 20 9:00 AM

Find out more about the eligibility criteria and the participation process here

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Tue, 19 Sep 2017 13:41:42 EESTTechne Summit is a two-day international technology event that acts as a platform including the main global players in the technology industry, namely: speakers, technology businesses, entrepreneurs and startups, investors, users and media representatives.

This year it will be held for the third time in Alexandria, Egypt from September 30 - October 1.

The event creates networking opportunities and opens up possibilities for various business collaboration between parties, particularly those that pertain to growth in the MENA.

This year’s lineup of speakers feature experts from various fields and backgrounds including H.E. Eng. Yasser El Kady the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Ahmed El Wakil the Chairman of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce, and Asmaa Hosny the CEO of ITIDA.

Held under the theme of ‘Technology-Innovation-Talent’, the two-day summit will act as a platform for global stakeholders to share experiences, knowledge, observations, predictions and opportunities for growth.

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Tue, 19 Sep 2017 13:21:44 EESTSeedstars World is on a mission to identify the best seed-stage entrepreneurs and provide them with an opportunity to win up to USD 1 million and network with investors and mentors from around the world.

On November 1, ten of Kuwait’s most promising seed stage startups will compete to represent Morocco at both the Seedstars MENA Regional Summit and Seedstars World, the global seed-stage startup competition for emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes.

Up to ten of the best seed stage startups in Morocco will pitch for the opportunity to compete at the Seedstars Summit, which annually takes place in Switzerland.

Participating startups will pitch in front of a judging panel, who will be deciding on the winner at the end of the day.

In addition to seeing the startups pitch, attendees can look forward to an event filled with disruptive tech, inspirational discussions, and networking sessions.

Winning startup will join the global Seedstars Family and take part in the regional and global Seedstars Summits that include the bootcamp and investor forum.